If many more women follow in the footsteps of Mo’ne Davis and Becky Hammon, who knows? There might soon be no need for a league of their own after all.
Davis just became the first girl to pitch a complete-game shutout in the Little League World Series. Hammon earned a job as assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs, the first female ever to take a coaching position in the NBA.
Together, they are reflection of one of America’s greatest practices: rewarding merit — regardless of sex or race.
Davis, at 13, is just the 18th girl to have taken part in a Little League World Series. She’s also the only Little Leaguer, male or female, to have earned a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Hammon is equally impressive. A 16-year star player in the WNBA, she’s known for her game smarts.
Indeed, when the Spurs announced her hire, they noted her high “basketball IQ” — and made no mention whatsoever of her gender.
Never mind women’s-rights legislation. As Hammon puts it, doing your job well is what counts:
“A pick-and-roll in the women’s game is a pick-and-roll in the men’s game,” says Hammon. “Character, working for each other, trusting your teammates . . . that’s universal.”
None of this is to suggest, of course, that either of the sexes, as a group, is as qualified in every way as the other. Biology and history suggest women may excel at some things, men at others.
Nor does any of this deny that bias against women, and other groups, has hampered them in the past. But rewarding folks solely on their talents clearly has its own rewards. As Hammon and Davis prove.